33 Postcards Review

33 Postcards is a drama film that debuted April 15, 2013, in the United States

When the show opens, we are introduced to Mei Mei (Zhu Lin), who lives in a Chinese orphanage. She conducts a small choir, which is made up of orphans. 

She receives another postcard from her sponsor, Dean Randall (Guy Pearce), who tells her that he is a wildlife reserve caretaker, in Sydney, Australia. He promises her that she can come visit him and his wife Jenny, when she is old enough.

The Chinese chorus has been offered a chance to go to perform at the Australian Choir Festival. They readily agree and set out for the airport. Mei attempts to convince Miss Chen (Elaine Jin), to let her go see Dean, but she denies her request.

When the children land in Australia, Mei takes out on her own to find Dean. She ends up at his brother, Gary’s (Rhys Muldoon, House Husbands) apartment, but he has no intensions in assisting her on her question. Gary’s co-worker, Carl (Lincoln Lewis, House Husbands) shows up and decides to take her to where Dean lives.

Mei enters a locked facility and is asked for some form of identification, which she does not have, before she can see Dean. Barbara (Claudia Carvan), an employee at the facility, she intercedes and takes her in to see Dean. 

Mei is not disappointed, when she finds out that Dean had been lying to her for ten years. He had been imprisoned for nearly a year because he accidentally killed an elderly man. 

Miss Chen becomes afraid, when Mei does not return to the motel. She tries to file a missing child report, but the officer refuses to take her information because Mei had not been missing for 48 hours. 

Dean is in the bathroom, when he witnesses another prisoner, Tommy (Matt Nable) stab another prisoner with a shank. He refuses to rat on Tommy and instead gets blamed for the misdeed.

Dean has to go before the parole board to see if his parole is going to be granted. Barbara tells them about Dean sending Mei money and 33 postcards over a ten year period.

Dean suffers from panic attacks and agoraphobia. He deals with his mental illness by using meditation and his imagination to allow him to see eagles freely soar through the sky. 

When Mei returns to the motel, Miss Chen packs her bags and tells her that she is to return to China. Again, Mei runs away and goes searching for Gary.

Carl takes her back to the prison to see Dean. She tells him that she wants to stay in Australia and live with him, when he is released from prison. She tells him that they are alike because they have no one that cares about them except for each other.

Carl’s father, Fletch (Terry Serio), runs a chop shop and begins paying Mei for cleaning the stolen cars. Dean tries to tell her to stay away from Fletch but she is determined to help provide for herself. The parole board has agreed to grant Dean parole in two weeks, but he agrees to rat on Tommy, in order to get early release.

Mei has been granted freedom to live in Australia with Barbara until an appropriate foster family is found but Miss Chen wants her to return to the orphanage. 

Dean is released the same day and goes on a hunt to find Mei. Will he find himself behind bars again trying to save Mei from Fletch’s clutches of illegality? Will Mei return to China and live with the other orphans and continue to study and conduct the choir?

Review

33 Postcards is a great little family film. It shows how two lost souls from two different worlds come together to form a special bond. Guy Pearce and Zhu Lin should be commended for their performances in this lovely film. The screenplay was done with perfection, as well as the cinematography. The beautiful landscapes pull you into the film because you wish you could escape to such a beautiful place. Just listening to the children singing and preforming will bring tears to your eyes. This film deserves a 7.5 out of 10. The movie is currently available on Amazon Prime.